Never meet your heroes, they say. Well, whoever “they” are, they were right, again.

The first time I met one of my “heroes” was when I was about 17 years old. I was stood outside my local football club when all of a sudden none other than Stuart “Psycho” Pearce, legendary defender for Nottingham Forest, walked by the group I was stood with.

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Nowadays I’m not much of a football fan but back in the day, when footballers didn’t whimper and roll around on the floor every time someone touched them, I was more interested. Nobody epitomised the old-school hard-man footballer more than Stuart Pearce and I loved him for it. I even played in the same position as him and just like Psycho Pearce I used to terrify anyone who tried to get passed me, with or without the ball.

Sadly, when the moment came and My hero walked passed me, he completely ignored my excited hello and seemed to be frustrated at having to take a few extra paces in order to walk around our group. Im not sure what I expected from him but even a nod would have sufficed. Then again, anyone named Psycho is bound to be grumpy I guess, and how was he to know that I was such a fan of his. Jaded, maybe, but I was still a fan and the moments Stuart Pearce gave as a footballer will stay with me forever.

So, fast forward 25 years and my heroes now have less of an athletic lifestyle. My football stadiums have been swapped for breweries and Micro Pubs, and my sporting talisman has been replaced by the head-brewer. Nowadays it’s all bald heads and beer bellies which isn’t exactly sporting pin-up material but these dudes are talented nonetheless.

One of my favourite breweries is Totally Brewed. This team of beer brewers are producing some top class beer and the art work that goes on the side of their cans is fast becoming irresistible. The only person who I think is letting the team down at Totally Brewed is the person who names the beers. I mean, come on, who names a beer “We needed to try this in a can”? Seriously, that’s the name of one of their beers!! Anyway, before I digress any further, let’s get back to story…

OK, the word “hero” or “idol” is a little bit of an exaggeration but when I heard that my local Micro Pub was celebrating its 5th birthday and they planned to invite the team from Totally Brewed, I was quite excited. And so, last weekend I found the time to pop up to the pub and offer my thanks to the brewers for creating such enjoyable beers. It was a quick visit and I could only stay long enough to buy a takeaway beer from the fridge, but still, I was certainly going to pay my respects.

After picking out a beer I’d had my eye on for some time, I approached the counter and asked if any of the team from the brewery were still around. The barmaid then pointed out a young-ish chap who was sat in the corner next to the bar, and informed me that he was one of the brewers. Great, I thought, and instantly turned to him to say hello and pass on my congratulations for the success of his brewery. Without any appreciation for my kind words, and to my complete surprise, this balding nob-stain, with his shrivelled up scrotum-like face, grumpily pointed out that the can I was holding was one from a rival brewery and added that I couldn’t be much of a fan if that was my choice of beer… What a prick! In the moment I honestly didn’t know what to say and just thanked him for putting me on the spot. What I should have said, in hindsight, was “Sorry, pal, I didn’t realise I’d walked into the local Scientology centre. I’ll go and thrash myself for my in-pious ways and drown myself in a bath of your dumb-ass named beer”.

Rather than make a scene by insulting the guest of honour, I let out an awkward laugh and looked for the nearest exit, but not before grabbing myself an extra large helping of chocolate stout cake which was sat on the bar. Nom nom 🤤

Just like before, this unfortunate experience will not change my opinion. The beer from Totally Brewed is still sumptuous, even if it does happen to be brewed by a complete bell-end. All this experience has done is to confirm the theory that one should never meet ones idols.

And so, with this life-lesson affirmed we can now move on and enjoy the beer I chose to feature in this week’s #beersaturday…

Northern Monk - 8th anniversary DIPA

Wowza! What a beer! Now, it’s no understatement to say this is one of the greatest beers I’ve tasted. With a hop combination of Citra, Mosaic, Idaho 7, and Strata, Northern Monk have celebrated their 8th anniversary with a slice of perfection. And with an alcohol content of 8.8%, this beer sits in that golden range which gives you a good kick while allowing the flavour to steal the show. This beer is smooth, but not too creamy. It’s also sharp and refreshing, but not over-carbonated to the point where you feel like your tongue is going to dissolve. Another noticeable feature of this beer is the way it pours into the glass. This DIPA is thick, baby! And I mean thick! So much so that if it wasn’t for the frothy white head, I would have thought I’d just poured myself a beer-smoothie. Thankfully, the thickness only adds to the experience and the taste. This DIPA is top notch, a perfectly balanced brew worthy of any celebration. And even at a price of £8.50, I’d happily buy many many more. It’s just a shame the barmaid at the micro pub dropped the crate and badly damaged the last three cans that are left in the fridge. Who knows, maybe I’ll get them at a discount next weekend…

Following on from Northern Monk is always going to be tough, but if anyone can do it Deya can.

Deya - Saturated in Strata

If for nothing more than the artworks, Deya is one of my favourite breweries, it’s just a blessing that they also produce a fantastic beer too.

Pouring this beer gave me hope, as the classic opaque liquid smoothly flowed from the can to my glass, looking like honey from the gods.
Again, with an 8% ABV this beer sat in that golden range making me even more hopeful that I’d picked another super-brew. But sadly it wasn’t to be…

It seems Strata hops aren’t really my thing. They tend to give the beer a very lactose-like taste which makes me feel like I’ve mixed my beer with a glass of semi-skimmed milk. This really is a beer-smoothie and I’m none too keen. Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t a bad beer, it’s just different in a way that I find distracting. For a moment I’m like, “Mmm beer” and then the next moment I’m like, “ohh creamy”. Maybe with a little more balance these two flavours could work well but I’m afraid, in this case, it just isn’t working for me. Nonetheless, this is a beer from Deya and I still have a wonderful work of art to add to my collection 😎.

And now it’s time for a reading from the good book of beer…

Thank you for joining me for yet another #beersaturday! I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and learned a little more about this wonderful drink. See you all next time!